The Diary of Nathaniel Coffin by Steven Lee Benson

Author:Steven Lee Benson [Benson, Steven Lee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781524688660
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Published: 2017-07-17T04:00:00+00:00

“Mista Coffin! Wake up naw. There be peoples coming. I hears voices,” Blackjack whispered at daybreak, ready to cover the boy’s mouth if he were to call out.

“I hear them too. My burning eyes are closed but my mind is alert. I have been awake for an hour. It’s another detachment sent to collect more game for Albury’s beach party. When they are out of sight we should gather our things, and leave the pork to smoke then find another place to hide with a more convenient view of the beach. We shall return after dark when the cooking fires are bright, and their minds are bent.”

After stoking the fire with hand-picked kindling and a choice collection of sweet tree bark, the two men gathered their possessions and ventured forth to explore. By switch-backing upward they discovered a better vantage point, one hundred vertical feet higher than their previous elevation. The site itself was cluttered with boulders and an umbrella of small invading vines flush with yellow blossoms that framed a window to the sea. The second cave was more exposed. From its mouth one could see the many turquoise shades of the South Atlantic. The floor was worn smooth; it was divided into two levels. The upper shelf was layered with a nest of banana leaves, which had since browned and dried. In the center of the room, no larger than an ox cart or higher than arm’s reach, they discovered a fire pit surrounded by flat stones, the skeleton of a fish lying beside it. The enclosure widened as they followed the walls around and down to another small room and homemade chair, documenting a human had once lived there. And as before, the smoke-stained walls sloped and narrowed like a snake reduces from head to the tail. Beyond this room the sounds of dripping water coaxed them onward to an even darker place. Seepage was being collected by a natural basin just large enough to bath in; the water was draining from the tub as slowly as it was being fed. Twinkling as the layer of clear liquid washed over it, one wall appeared to be in motion. When his eyes adjusted to the absence of light, Blackjack immediately filled a coconut shell from the pool and raised it to his lips. The taste was remarkably clear and cool, with little aftertaste.

On a smooth flat boulder located in the center of the pool, the men took turns bathing and making trips collecting more fodder for the fire. They then washed the stink and sweat from their clothing and dried the laundry where the sunbeams shown through. The rare and simple pleasure was rejuvenating.

Refreshed and still naked as babies, they consumed the rest of the nuts and berries Blackie had scrounged earlier. A small fire was also constructed with a tool Blackjack made called a “fire bow” that forced an upright stick in a circle by a wrap of shoelace taken from his boot, the sticks pointed end captured by a recess on a flat piece of wood lying beneath it.

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